Real WorldLeadershipCreate an engaging culturefor greater impact.

Development that drives transformation and growth.Part three of the Real World Leadership report series.

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About the study.

Korn Ferry commissioned a comprehensive, global survey

of views on leadership development in July and August of

2015. The survey generated more than 7,500 responses

from 107 countries, with broad representation from

markets such as North America, the UK, continental

Europe, Australia, and Asia. Three in four of the leaders

who responded are engaged in their organizations'

business functions; the rest are in human resources.

The breakdown of the respondents follows:

C-suite (26%)

VP/SVP/EVP (31%)

Director (27%)

Other (16%)

1

Introduction.Culture is the lifeblood of an organization. It reflects the values, beliefs, and behaviors that determine

how people perform and interact with each other every day. In some organizations, culture is widely

discussed and understood by all. In others, it is an unspoken set of rules and norms. Culture,

regardless of how it is communicated, plays an enormous role in organizations’ performance.

Our recent global survey explored issues surrounding culture change and leadership development.

The research demonstrates that organizations see the need to make a priority of culture to drive

alignment, collaboration, and performance. Yet many acknowledge they have not effectively aligned

culture and strategy. They have not identified and communicated their culture throughout their

organizations. They have not integrated culture into their talent development and organizational

practices.

Key findings include:

"Driving culture change" ranks among the top three global leadership development priorities.

"Organizational alignment and collaboration" is considered the primary driver to improve culture.

"Communications" is the most used strategy to improve culture, followed by "leadership

development" and "embedding culture change in management objectives."

The findings suggest that organizations need to make culture change a more significant aspect of

their leadership development programs and overall leadership agenda. Culture change occurs,

ultimately, when a critical mass of individuals adopt new behaviors consistent with their

organization’s strategic direction. Leadership development can be the most effective tool to change

behaviors. And when leaders change their behaviors, others do so, too.

Culture change starts in the executive suite. Top leaders need to define the culture, communicate it

to all organizational levels, and act and behave in ways that reflect and reinforce desired outcomes.

Leadership development can play a key role in accelerating, reinforcing, and sustaining culture

change throughout the organization. This is the third in a series of four reports that discuss the

results and implications of our global research on leadership development. We hope the insights

provided will help organizations develop the leaders they need to succeed in these challenging times.

Stu CrandellSenior Vice President of the Korn Ferry Institute

2

Develop leaders to accelerateculture change.

1 2 3

Rank the most important leadership development priorities in your organization.

29% 19% 18% Developing leaders todrive strategic change 66%

22% 16% 16% Filling gaps in yourleadership pipeline 54%

16% 16% 13% Driving culture change 45%

12% 14% 13% Accelerating time

to performance 39%

7% 15% 16% Driving engagement 38%

6% 12% 14% Diversifying the

leadership pipeline 32%

8% 9% 10% Becoming more purpose

and values driven 27%

Culture has never been more critical to organizational performance. As organizations adapt to

change and pursue new opportunities, they need to align the values, beliefs, and behaviors of their

workforce to support new and evolving business strategies. This is fundamental to their success.

Survey respondents ranked "driving culture change" as one of their top three global leadership

development priorities. This reflects a significant evolution in culture's perception in organizations.

They increasingly see that their existing culture has gotten them to their current state of

organizational performance, but it will not get them to where they want to go.

"In previous years, culture was not viewed as a priority," remarks Jacqueline Gillespie, senior partner

at Korn Ferry. "That has changed. There's now a widespread recognition that culture has a significant

impact in supporting a business strategy."

Rank the most important leadership development prioritiesin your organization.

3

"As organizations become more global and diverse—and

as they engage more independent contractors and

temporary workers—they understand they have to manage

culture more pro-actively," adds Mark Royal, senior

principal at Korn Ferry.

How do organizations engineer leadership development

plans to drive culture change?

To do so, they must foster the values and behaviors to

support the new business strategy. If an organization

wants to create a more commercial culture where

everybody contributes to top-line growth, it must develop

new daily behaviors. When these get practiced often

enough in the right ways, the culture begins to shift. For

this process to work, systems and practices must be put in

place to reinforce desired behaviors and to hold people

accountable for change. But it all starts with top leaders

defining the desired culture in a way so it does not deviate

from the organization's core mission and values.

Once defined, the culture-change agenda needs to be

embedded in the development plans of individual leaders.

It must be part of all leadership development activities.

"We believe that talent, leadership, and culture are

intrinsically linked, and they are crucial to strategic

execution," says Arvinder Dhesi, senior client partner at

Korn Ferry. "It's a mistake for top leaders to believe that

culture is somehow separate from themselves or a

separate project. Everything that we do contributes to the

culture. There’s no culture-neutral behavior."

Developing aninclusive culture.

Korn Ferry’s Managing Inclusion

program provides managers with

the knowledge and tools to create

an inclusive environment that helps

employees excel and grow and

supports broader culture change.

The program helps managers learn

how to support and engage staff,

while communicating and modeling

behaviors foundational to an

inclusive culture.

"We believe that

talent, leadership,

and culture are

intrinsically linked,

and they are crucial to

strategic execution."Arvinder Dhesi

Senior Client PartnerKorn Ferry

4

Creating a cultural foundation.

Korn Ferry's Four Pillars of Leadership Development

provide a framework to instill behaviors and values

foundational to support an existing or desired culture.

1. Context is critical: Development work must be

connected to the organization's current issues and

strategies. "Context is king," says Dave Eaton, a

Korn Ferry senior partner. "The development needs are

very different if an organization is working through a

merger versus hiring or transitioning to a new CEO."

2. Develop the whole person: To maximize leadership

potential, organizations must match individual

strengths and motivations to organizational needs, and

development must align the individual's values, beliefs,

and personality to the new culture.

1 2 3 4

FOUR PILLARS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Treat leadership development as a journey.

Servicepromotes purpose.

Context is critical.

Develop the whole person.

Korn Ferry's Four Pillars of Leadership Development.

5

3. Treat leadership development as a journey: "Leadership development is always a journey," says

Noah Rabinowitz, senior partner and global head of

Korn Ferry's Leadership Development practice.

"It should have a story line and an arc that consists of a

variety of development experiences strung together in

a compelling way, making learners feel that they are on

a true journey with a beginning, middle, and end."

4. Service promotes purpose: To tap into deeper levels of

motivation, individuals must feel they are contributing

to something meaningful, such as making a difference

to people’s lives. This starts with the organization

articulating a mission that defines the value it creates

for the people it serves. In turn, the organization’s

mission is perpetuated by purpose-driven leaders who

demonstrate authentic leadership to their teams. By

linking elements of culture change with an

organization's mission and connecting that to an

individual leader's purpose, companies can develop

stronger advocates for change.

"Leadership development naturally should serve as a

source of inspiration," Rabinowitz explains. "People are

inspired by an opportunity to serve a purpose beyond

the bottom line and beyond themselves. You can do

this by leveraging the organization’s community and

social responsibility platform."

"People are inspired

by an opportunity to

serve a purpose

beyond the bottom

line and beyond

themselves."Noah Rabinowitz

Senior Partner and Global HeadKorn Ferry Leadership Development

6

Change doesn't happen overnight.

To increase the impact of leadership development

programs, organizations must build and offer a mix of

formal and informal activities. "The formal vehicle is some

type of structured learning event," Eaton says. "The

informal is just as important and can include activities such

as mentoring, peer-to-peer work, global project teams, and

time in-country; these can provide time for collaboration

and wide-ranging discussions."

Culture change on the organizational and individual level

both take time. People—much less organizations—can't be

expected to change overnight. Because this is so, it's vital

that the desired culture shift and associated

communications and development programs are

consistent and enduring.

"It's important to realize that culture change takes time,"

says Dennis Baltzley, a Korn Ferry senior partner. "But

when momentum builds and enough people change their

behaviors, the culture often changes, too."

Aligning behaviors tostrategy and culture.

Designed for managers and

employees at all levels, Korn Ferry’s

Appreciating Differences

encourages participants to examine

how their views shape their

behaviors—both conscious and

unconscious—when dealing with

others in the workplace. Exercises

and tools expand their thinking

about diversity and inclusion and

improve their interactions with those

who differ from them.

The program can help individuals to

embrace individual differences and

align their behaviors to the

organization’s strategy and cultural

aspirations.

"It's importantto realize thatculture changetakes time."

Dennis BaltzleySenior Partner

Korn Ferry

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Aligning culture withbusiness strategy.

The primary driver for organizations to improve

their cultures is increased alignment and

collaboration, our survey found. In a well-aligned

organization, all business units and functional

areas unite around the same strategy, purpose,

and values.

"Organizations sometimes undervalue the power

of collaboration," notes Brigitte Morel-Curran,

senior partner at Korn Ferry. "When you can

truly develop a collaborative mindset in the

organization, you can unlock an enormous

wealth of speed, agility, and productivity."

What is the primary driver to improve your culture?

4%Improve employer brand

3%Reduce loss of top talent

3%Other

2%Di�culty onboarding new talent

8%Attract diverse talent

10%Address low employee morale/engagement

29%Improve organizationalperformance

41%Improve organizational alignmentand collaboration

What is the primary driver to improve your culture?

2

3

1

Top three global driversof culture change:

Improve organizational performance

Address low employee morale/engagement

Improve organizational alignment and collaboration

8

72%of executivessay culture is

extremelyimportant for

organizationalperformance.

ONLY32%of executives say their organization’s culture is fully aligned with the business strategy.

But research finds the alignment between strategy and

culture more often the exception than the rule in most

organizations. In a 2014 Korn Ferry global survey1, 72% of

respondents agreed that culture is extremely important to

organizational performance. But only 32% said their

culture aligns with their business strategy.

Culture is rarely homogeneous. It is common to find

subcultures grouped around functional units or individual

leaders. In some cases, this may be benign: It may not

hurt an organization's performance if a technology

support group is more aligned with tech industry values

than the organization's. But there may be culture clashes,

say, between marketing and engineering departments if

these functions fail to align with their broader

organizations.

The starting point for organizational alignment is mission,

purpose, and strategy. Ideally, top leaders define these

elements, the path to execution, and the values and

behaviors that will support implementation and success.

Once they have done so, these individuals must

communicate this information clearly, consistently, and

repeatedly throughout the organization.

Leaders responsible for policies and procedures may need to alter these to support culture change.

They may need to address employee accountability and compensation, organizational structure,

project approval procedures, and committee functions. Driven from the top, this sends a clear

message to staffers that their organization is changing.

"Leaders must articulate the culture they desire," Gillespie says. "They need to talk about and model

the behaviors required to live the culture."

___________________________________________________

1. Korn Ferry. 2014. Korn Ferry Executive Survey. Los Angeles: Korn Ferry.

9

Formalizing alignment of strategyand culture.

Morel-Curran observes, "Leaders have an incredible

impact in all sorts of conscious and subconscious ways:

what they do, the way they think, the way they make

decisions, and the way they are decoded and get copied.

So, when we talk about culture change, value change,

behavioral change, it always starts at the top."

All leaders in the organization must understand how their

work contributes to the business strategy. A total

commitment to strategy may necessitate that certain

projects and processes get abandoned so people and

resources can be re-invested in more strategically aligned

work. To foster engagement, leaders must get

opportunities to share their insights and ideas on

improving and refining the strategy.

Finally, it is helpful to put in place the means to measure

progress toward the execution of the strategy and to

identify obstacles to its advance. Obstacles, once

identified, can promptly be addressed. When two

organizations merge, some individuals, for example, may

resist combined operations and advocate co-existence

instead. But, in this instance, the resistant must receive

feedback to underscore the imperative of the combined

course and how their behaviors must change.

If cultural behaviors and values are well-defined, then

organizations are far more likely to deliver successfully

on their mission and strategy. "Ultimately, a good strategy

that is well-executed will change a culture," Baltzley

notes. "The two things happen simultaneously and

reinforce each other."

"Leaders have an

incredible impact in

all sorts of conscious

and subconscious

ways...So, when we

talk about culture,

value, and behavioral

change, it always

starts at the top."Brigitte Morel-Curran

Senior PartnerKorn Ferry

10

Context matters.

Leadership development that is contextual and that brings

together leaders throughout the organization to work on

strategy-related projects can play a key role in supporting

alignment and collaboration—and, ultimately, in enhancing

culture. In an ideal world, survey respondents prefer more

of their leadership development programs to be contextual

rather than topical.

"Contextual leadership development is a great vehicle for

encouraging collaboration and alignment," Rabinowitz

says. "Contextual development allows people to work on

real business issues and real culture needs as they grow

and learn. Both the organization and individuals benefit,

for example, if high potentials help to solve problems with

culture misalignment."

"Contextual

development allows

people to work on

real business issues

and real culture needs

as they grow and

learn. Both the

organization and

individuals benefit."Noah Rabinowitz

Senior Partner and Global HeadKorn Ferry Leadership Development

What best describes the ideal ratio of development programsat your organization?

Topically-focused

develop

ment

Con

text

ually

-bas

ed d

evel

opm

ent

100%/0%

6%

5%/25%7

29%

50%/50%

38%

25%/75%

23%

0%/100%

4%

Development program mix (contextual/topical)

11

Leaders' roles in culture change.The responsibility for improving or changing a culture rests with an organization’s top leaders.

Through their actions, communications, and the values they embody, leaders set the example for

others to follow and the tone for what is important and valued in the organization.

"Organizations follow their leaders," Eaton says. "If you're changing course, the top leaders must

serve as role models for the new set of behaviors. There’s a cascading effect, whereby people see

the leaders they trust and decide to emulate the very same behaviors themselves."

Our survey affirms the critical role that leaders play in improving culture. Respondents reported the

most widely used strategy to improve culture is "communications," followed by "leadership

development" and "embedding culture change in management objectives."

"Culture is like a garden," Royal says. "Something is going to grow there—either flowers or weeds. It's

up to leaders to model the desired cultural behaviors and align processes and systems with the

culture."

What is the most used strategy to improve culture in your organization?What is the most used strategy in your organization to improve culture?

Attracting new talent withfresh perspectives

8%

6%Team alignment

5%Culture assessments

5%Other

8%Formal change managementinitiatives

16%Embedding culture change inmanagement objectives

23%Leadership development

29%Communications

12

When organizations determine a new strategy or

broad transformation requires significant culture

change, top leaders must decide which elements

of existing culture stay and which must go.

"Organizations have to foster and reinforce what

is valuable in the current culture, let go of what's

expendable, and change into something else,"

Baltzley continues. "For a company that harbors

ambitions to become a global company with a

global brand, it has to let go of some elements of

its native culture."

In many organizations, top management has

failed to clearly define the culture. In Korn Ferry's

2014 global survey, only 25% of respondents

reported their organizations identified and

communicated their culture "to a great extent,"

and only 35% said their employees could

articulate their culture "to a great extent." For

these organizations, defining the current state is

the first step to move to a new, better culture.

of organizations’ leaders do not identify and communicate their organizational culture to a great extent.

75%

Developing senior leaders.

No job experience can fully prepare a new or

emerging CEO for culture transformation.

Korn Ferry’s Chief Executive Institute™ and

Executive to Leader Institute™ programs focus

on the personal growth of new CEOs, CEO

succession candidates, and senior executives

rather than teaching specific management skills.

Participants work with multiple consultants,

with interdisciplinary backgrounds, in an

intensive in-residence session followed by 12

months of coaching. Each program enhances

executives' personal, interpersonal, and

enterprise effectiveness, and prepares them to

make a lasting impact on their organizations'

people, culture, and business.

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To instill the desired culture, leaders must connect culture

with business strategy by articulating the behaviors and

values required of all to execute the strategy.

"Business strategy is enabled by culture, leadership, and

talent," Gillespie says. "Leaders have to articulate the

culture in their own way and make sure the next level of

leaders also understands and promotes the change."

Ultimately, Gillespie continues, "Top leaders are the

organization's culture carriers—you can't change a culture

without developing leaders who embrace the change."

Dhesi adds, "Culture is all about the beliefs that drive

behavior. And top leaders play an absolutely crucial role in

modeling the type of behavior that we want to see

throughout the organization."

ONLY35%of executives believe their

employees can articulate their

organizational culture to a great extent.

Articulating culturalstrategy.

Korn Ferry’s Effective

Communicating program offers an

intense learning experience to help

participants speak clearly, concisely,

and persuasively in every

communication situation.

Participants learn how to: create and

organize messages to connect and

motivate their audience; maintain

listener interest and demonstrate

confidence; and identify and

eliminate distracting behaviors.

Effective communication is

indispensable to imparting the

values and behaviors that create the

foundation of organizational culture.

14

Catalysts for culture change.When organizations fare well, leaders are unlikely to call for significant changes in culture. But culture

change becomes a priority when companies experience a disappointing performance or a trigger

event such as the installation of a new CEO, a merger, a spin-off, a market shift, or a major

competitive threat.

New CEO: In many cases, the new chief executive wants

to pursue a new strategy or a significant transformation

that demands a culture change to build supporting

behaviors and values. If the CEO is taking over an

underperforming company, the need will be even more

pronounced for strategic change, transformation, and

culture change. Even in relatively stable leadership

transitions, CEOs want to put their stamp on the

organization and leave a legacy.

New CEO

Leaders, in response, must create a new culture that retains the good elements from the two

organizations, and discards the bad. "In the absence of a common culture to work in," Eaton says,

"people will revert to the culture they know."

New CEOs are expected to deliver results quickly. Once a new strategy is formulated, it is vital for

CEOs to align with their top team. When that occurs, leadership development that is focused on the

desired culture change and new strategies will help push change at an organization’s every level.

Mergers and acquisitions: No other event can highlight

culture's importance more than two similar-sized firms

merging, each with its own of everything, including

culture. The challenge in integrating the two rests in

reconciling overlapping groups and creating an enhanced

modus operandi. In many cases, people cling to their

existing culture, behaviors, and values.

Mergers/acquisitions

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Spin-offs: When a parent company determines a division

would perform better as an independent company,

spin-offs can result. They often are expected to be leaner,

more agile, and more entrepreneurial than the parent. But

this requires a culture shift among employees, most of

whom previously worked for the parent. Leaders of the

spin-off must determine what they want to keep and what

they want to dispense with from the parent organization,

and what they want to invent that never existed before.

Spin-o�s

Market shifts

Leadership development that is focused on learning

agility can help leaders in a spin-off transition to a more

entrepreneurial culture. This can be beneficial to a

workforce that will shoulder broader responsibilities and

must manage more ambiguous situations. Cross-

functional training can also provide the staff with skills to

be nimbler and more responsive in a new, leaner

organization.

Market shifts: Customers often seek collaborative

solutions that cut across service portfolios. As a result,

organizations must change their culture from ruthless

internal competition to more collaboration.

Leadership development can play a major role in helping

organizations become more customer-centric and

collaborative. The benefits of this are twofold: the

organization provides better service to their customers,

and leaders develop new skills and organizational

knowledge.

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Disruptive change: Technological advances often make

products obsolete. Organizations facing disruptive

technological change must innovate swiftly and re-invent

themselves or face extinction.

In this situation, it is critical to develop leaders who can

both drive innovation and change, and build a

collaborative, performance-oriented culture. Leadership

development can help transform the organization quickly

and create an environment in which new ideas and

innovation can flourish.

Globalization: Whether organizations are threatened by

global competition or they need to expand globally, they

can face significant issues in culture change. In both cases,

culture shifts must occur for new strategies to be executed

successfully.

For organizations facing global competition, leadership

development needs to focus on both product

development, and sales and marketing. To spur faster,

more effective product development teams, businesses

can tap live, simulation-based, rapid prototyping and

innovation exercises. As the organization rolls out new

products, leadership development can educate marketers

and the sales force on how to promote and sell them

effectively against competition.

Globalization

For organizations expanding into new markets, leadership development that incorporates

crosscultural agility and increased flexibility will help to align the organization around a new culture

and new global strategy. Adapting leadership and management styles to local cultures is critical to

gain the most engagement, participation, and brilliance from local talent. Leaders must examine their

organizations' existing processes against the local landscape to see how best to manage meetings,

make decisions, and communicate; leaders may need to adapt their styles to get the best results.

Disruptivechange

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Barriers to culture change.Culture change is challenging because it is difficult to

change behavior. Many organizations acknowledge that

their cultures and strategies are misaligned. Common

barriers to change include: lack of attention to culture in

the executive suite, lack of follow-through to culture-

change initiatives, and failure to tackle pockets of

resistance.

The results can be grim, as recent history suggests, with

many examples of companies that spawned toxic cultures

of corner-cutting, resulting in unsafe, sometimes even

lethal, products or approvals for disastrous high-risk loans.

If generating strong financial results becomes the

all-consuming priority, then culture can suffer.

For new CEOs who are under pressure to deliver improved

financial results from the get-go of their tenure, it can be

challenging to stay focused on culture. “Time is not on the

side of new CEOs,” Gillespie notes. “They have to get their

team in place, develop a new strategy, and begin showing

results quickly. Culture change takes time. It’s an ongoing

process that never really finishes.”

"Leaders often get caught up in thinking about strategy

and don’t think enough about culture," Baltzley adds. "And

the minute you take your eye off culture, it drifts."

Leadership development is indispensable to creating

culture. Organizations should constantly provide

leadership development programs to reinforce a strong

existing culture or support a desired evolution of culture.

"Leaders often getcaught up inthinking aboutstrategy and don’tthink enough aboutculture. And theminute you takeyour eye offculture, it drifts."

Dennis BaltzleySenior Partner

Korn Ferry

18

In most organizations, there will be subcultures, and, more

critically, leaders who resist or sabotage change. Some

employees in an organization that is moving toward a

more customer-centric culture may resist valuing the

customer experience more. They may ignore instructions

to customize products because they feel it strains the

organization. Managers in an organization seeking to

become more innovative may protect bureaucracies that

stifle creativity because they believe old procedures

protect the organization from undue risk. Or they may not

see a new role for themselves, so they cling to the past and

fight the new.

"You are always going to have informal leaders who resist

change," Eaton explains. "They may also be talented and

influential within the organization. The key is to put them in

the right role where you can direct their energy in a more

positive way."

The work of promoting and reinforcing culture in an

organization never stops. Leadership at all levels should

live and breathe the culture and serve as role models to

the entire workforce. Building culture through leadership

development needs to be constant and profound.

"You are always going

to have informal

leaders who resist

change...The key is to

put them in the right

role where you can

direct their energy in

a more positive way."Dave Eaton

Senior PartnerKorn Ferry

19

Recommendations.Align top leaders.To help create buy-in and support, organizations must

involve their top leadership in assessing the current

culture and defining the desired culture. Senior leaders

then must articulate the culture change and make

employees understand the new culture, the reasons for it,

and why it is critical to achieve the organization’s goals.

Change practices and processes.Everything the organization does should be evaluated

against the new strategy and desired culture change.

Hiring decisions, leadership development, and business

processes and practices should change to reflect the

values of the desired culture.

Change behaviors and rewards.Leaders should embody the new culture in their behaviors

and actions, making employees understand how the

culture looks and feels in the workplace. Compensation,

rewards, and employee recognition programs should be

aligned to the new culture and strategy.

"In previous years,

culture was not

viewed as a

priority...There's

now a widespread

recognition that

culture has a

significant impact in

supporting a business

strategy."Jacqueline Gillespie,

Senior PartnerKorn Ferry

20

Conclusion.Leadership development shapes culture. And a strong culture is indispensable to optimizing

organizational performance. The benefits include:

Alignment in executing strategy and fulfilling the core mission.

Greater cohesiveness between departments and individuals.

Increased employee satisfaction and retention.

Improved perceptions from external constituents and stakeholders.

Enhanced employer brand and talent attraction.

Better financial performance.

Culture change requires patience and persistence. To begin, an organization needs to: understand its

current culture; define the culture it desires; identify its gaps and challenges; and determine what

actions it must take to transform its culture to align with its strategy. It requires constant support

from top management and buy-in from leaders at every level.

Resources are available to assist organizations with culture change. External experts can provide

insights and experience—from assessing the current culture and defining the new one to customized

leadership development programs—to help organizations build the culture they want and need.

Companies must invest time, energy, and resources to align their culture to support their business

strategy if they are to achieve their goals and build a sustainable organization that serves all their

stakeholders.

Up next: Give leaders purposeand unleash their potential.

The fourth report in the series focuses on how leadership

development can help to build more sustainable,

purpose-driven, and socially conscious organizations.

21

kornferry.com/real-world-leadership#RealWorldLeadership

Create an engaging culture for greater impact.Part three of the Real World Leadership report series.

Real World Leadership

Arvinder DhesiSenior Client Partner

at Korn Ferry

Talent, leadership, and culture are intrinsically linked, and they are crucial to strategic execution.

Brigitte Morel-CurranSenior Partner at Korn Ferry

When you can truly develop a collaborative mindset in the organization, you can unlock an enormous wealth of speed, agility, and productivity.

72%of executivessay culture is

extremelyimportant for

organizationalperformance.

ONLY32%of executivessay their organization’s culture is fully aligned with the business strategy.

2

3

1

Top three global driversof culture change:

Improve organizational performance

Address low employee morale/engagement

Improve organizational alignment and collaboration

Most deployed global strategies toimprove organizational culture:

1 23Leadership

development

Embedding culture change in management objectives

Communications

Mergers/acquisitions Market shiftsNew CEO Spin-o�s

Catalysts for culture change.

GlobalizationDisruptive

change

ONLY35%of executives believe their

employees can articulate their

organizational culture to a great extent.

of organizations’ leaders do not identify and communicate their organizational culture to a great extent.

75%

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is the preeminent global people and organizational

advisory firm. We help leaders, organizations, and societies succeed

by releasing the full power and potential of people. Our nearly 7,000

colleagues deliver services through our Executive Search,

Hay Group, and Futurestep divisions.

About The Korn Ferry Institute

The Korn Ferry Institute, our research and analytics arm, was

established to share intelligence and expert points of view on talent

and leadership. Through studies, books, and a quarterly magazine,

Briefings, we aim to increase understanding of how strategic talent

decisions contribute to competitive advantage, growth, and success.

For more information about this report series, visit:

kornferry.com/real-world-leadership#RealWorldLeadership

© Korn Ferry. All rights reserved.

0216RWLCULTUREA4US